[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
Hawaii goes cold
in loss to Wildcats
The field-goal drought that cost the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine a possible upset of No. 21 Arizona yesterday in the 25th annual Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic lasted six minutes and 11 seconds.
Unfortunately, that was the final phase of the fifth-place game. The Wahine were 0-for-11 from the field and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc down the stretch.
Hawaii battled the Wildcats on even terms at the Stan Sheriff Center and pulled to within two points (57-55) of Arizona (3-2) on Jade Abele's basket.
The only other UH (1-4) points came on Callie Spooner's two free throws with 1:50 to go, but the Wildcats had the 66-57 victory well in hand by then.
"We were down by two, then it became four, then six points and when we got down to three minutes left we had to look for the 3-point shot," said UH coach Vince Goo.
Hawaii made only 22 percent of its 3-pointers coming into the game and that percentage will drop after a 2-for-18 performance against Arizona.
"We had a bunch of 3-point shots at the end with wide-open looks," said Goo. "We're weak there and we are going to have to get better. It wasn't like we were taking shots that weren't available. We were wide open and couldn't pass them up."
UA coach Joan Bonvicini read the UH statistics and went with a 2-3 zone to keep the Rainbow Wahine away from their penetrating, power game.
"They always made sure there was someone in the corner (on defense). It was like they were ready for us to shoot the 3 but maybe gave it to us because of our percentage," said UH point guard Milia Macfarlane. "We have to work on this on our own and as a team."
Goo was concerned about the Wildcats' size inside and their quickness on the perimeter and used the zone and man-to-man defenses to counter. However, when UA's 6-foot-5 center Shawntinice Polk got into foul trouble, Bonvicini had an answer in 6-2 center Danielle Adefeso who contributed 12 points and eight rebounds without a turnover.
UH also had trouble stopping super quick guard Dee-Dee Wheeler who led the Wildcats with 21 points.
In the tournament's other games:
Texas 85, Montana 46
The No. 2 ranked Longhorns (6-0) poured in 49 first-half points and cruised to their second Classic title. Texas also won in 1987.The Longhorns averaged 85 points a game for the tournament while allowing opponents just 49 an outing. They trailed briefly just two times in 120 minutes of action.
Freshman center Tiffany Jackson led Texas with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Heather Schreiber followed with 15, Jamie Carey added 12 and Coco Reed scored 11.
The Lady Griz (3-1) got 12 points each from Julie Deming and Hollie Tyler.
Hartford 74, Virginia 63
The Hawks (4-1) held off a late Cavalier (2-3) rally and survived some spotty free-throw shooting to win the third-place game over the Atlantic Coast Conference team.Virginia cut a 17-point deficit down to seven with 1:48 to play but the Hawks converted four of eight free throws to seal the upset.
Guards Liz Stich and Ikea Witt led Hartford with 19 and 16 points, respectively. Brandi Teamer was the only Virginia played in double figures with 20 points.
Syracuse 60, Navy 46
The Orangewomen (3-2) claimed seventh place by putting four players in double figures led by Sarah Wegrzynowicz's 18 points. Chineze Nwagbo scored 13 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds as Syracuse controlled the boards 41-25.Navy (2-4) was led by Ashley Pelzek who scored 13 points.
All-Tournament team
Jade Abele, Hawaii; LaTonya Blue, Virginia; Dee-Dee Wheeler, Arizona; Liz Stich, Hartford; Julie Deming, Montana, and Nina Norman and Jamie Carey, Texas. MVP: Heather Schreiber, Texas.
Arizona 66, Hawaii 57
WILDCATS (3-2)
WAHINE (1-4)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Polk 2 5 0 0 15 9 0 4 Sanford 2 6 1 1 17 5 0 5 Pace 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 Wheeler 8 14 4 4 36 4 6 21 Grzyb 4 12 2 3 36 2 3 11 Chappell 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 Lindner 1 2 0 0 9 1 0 2 Jones 1 8 2 3 32 3 7 5 Schein 2 2 0 0 17 3 1 4 Adefeso 5 6 2 5 18 8 0 12 Hobson 1 5 0 2 8 1 0 2 Totals 26 60 11 18 200 37 17 66
Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Taylor 4 8 0 1 18 2 1 8 Abele 6 12 8 10 36 6 5 21 Nishimoto 0 1 0 0 5 2 0 0 Sanders 1 1 0 0 14 0 2 2 Solia 0 4 2 2 9 1 0 2 Macfarlane 0 4 0 0 20 2 3 0 Atuaia 2 5 0 0 32 4 2 4 Spooner 1 1 2 2 8 0 0 4 Tambini 5 7 0 0 28 4 1 11 Lee 1 1 0 0 5 0 0 2 Grice 1 5 1 3 25 6 0 3 Team 4 Totals 21 49 13 18 200 31 14 57
Halftime-Arizona 30, Hawaii 30.
3-point goals--Arizona 3-12 (Wheeler, Grzyb, Jones), Hawaii 2-18 (Abele, Tambini). Personal fouls--Arizona 19, Hawaii 17. Steals--Arizona 2 (Polk, Wheeler), Hawaii 5 (Abele 3, Tambini, Grice). Blocked shots--Arizona 3 (Polk 3), Hawaii 1 (Grice). Turnovers--Arizona 9 (Wheeler 3, Jones 3, Polk 2, Hobson), Hawaii 14 (Sanders 3, Macfarlane 3, Atuaia 3, Taylor 2, Abele 2, Lee). A--701.